Harry Potter’s Morning Light

   Chapter 2146 Flower dispute (fifty-four)

  After the end of the American war, the United States was born, and with this country came a huge war debt.

  Louis XVI adopted the method of increasing taxes to fill the deficit caused by the war, but ships from New England returned home with goods such as pepper and silk.

Free competition can improve production efficiency, so the merchant ships from the two cities in New England feel like they come from two countries, and it is precisely because Chen Hongmou introduced merchants that the mining capacity of copper mines has been improved, allowing the copper mines of the Qing Dynasty Can be self-sufficient.

   During the reign of Emperor Wanli, there were three large-scale wars: the northwest and southwest frontiers of the Ming Dynasty and the Korean War, respectively the Ningxia battle to quell the mutiny of the Mongols, the Bozhou battle of the Miaojiang chieftain mutiny, and the Korean battle with Japan.

   These three wars all played a big role in consolidating the territory of China and maintaining the dominant position of the Ming Dynasty in East Asia, but Nick believes that the consumption of these wars is also huge, and Wanli will face the same problem of war deficit after the war.

   The easiest way is to print banknotes, but the banknotes at that time were not trusted by the market. Then there is the expansion of foreign trade. The Ming Dynasty implemented the sea ban policy, but it was loose and tight. The Jiajing Dynasty sea ban was the tightest, and it was relaxed during the Wanli period, even though Japanese pirates were still rampant at that time. The third is taxation. The Wanli emperor sent eunuchs to levy a mining tax, which was called a tyranny of the people. Not only Yang Rong, but also other mine envoys caused civil upheaval. Therefore, the court was divided into those who supported the levy of the mine tax and those who opposed the levy. The mining tax, and even some eunuchs were on the side of opposing the mining tax.

   There are many people who don’t like these intersex people, but many of them are poor people. However, in the financial situation at that time, it was difficult to reduce taxes as the censor said, or to stop taxes as Chen Yongbin said.

In the 30th year of Wanli, just after the wedding of the crown prince, the emperor fell ill. The illness came so suddenly that the Wanli emperor began to think wildly, thinking that he would die soon, so he gathered his ministers together and wrote a will, And arranged for the minister of the solitary.

After all this was arranged, Wanli brought up the matter of the mining tax: from now on, it can be stopped together with Jiangnan Weaving and Jiangxi Pottery. And the officials who have been cut off are also reinstated, and all the officials in the process and the censors will be filled.

   It is undeniable that in addition to military expenditures, the extravagance and waste of the emperor's private life also caused financial burdens, such as his alchemy and palace Taoist temples, etc. However, this edict of Wanli has the meaning of repentance, which makes people very happy.

   But four hours later, the situation changed dramatically, because Emperor Wanli had recovered from his illness, he regretted sending such a will, and planned to take it back.

"A gentleman's words are hard to be chased by a horse." The emperor is even more "junk talk", and the edict is rarely changed. It is said that after receiving the news that the emperor wanted to get back the edict, the **** of the lijian once risked his life to persuade him, but the result was He was almost slashed with a knife by the emperor who was recovering from a serious illness.

  The ministers at that time planned to create "established facts" and promulgated the will, and only the eunuchs needed to delay the emperor for a while.

  Edicts are divided into two ways: handwritten and printed. The handwritten edicts are called "transcribed yellow", and the engraved printed edicts are called "Tuohuang". Whether it is handwriting or printing, it takes time, but the **** did not withstand the pressure exerted by the emperor after all. Although Emperor Wanli did not go to court for 30 years, he was not an emperor who did not want to make progress. No matter how powerful the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty were at that time, they did not dare to hold the emperor hostage like the ten permanent servants of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

   In the end, the Wanli Emperor chose to execute most of the will, but no longer mentioned the suspension of the mining tax. In the early days of Emperor Wanli's ascension to the throne, his mother and the first assistant in the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng, handled the affairs of the state. After Zhang Juzheng implemented the "one-whip law", the taxation in the Ming Dynasty was changed to silver in kind and corvée. It was precisely because of the large amount of silver income that There was a brief prosperity in the early Wanli Dynasty.

   A whip law has crossed the length of the li, and the magistrate is directly responsible for the collection of taxes. This is not only a tax reform, but also a social structural reform. Originally, the role of county-level administrative officials was of an auxiliary nature, mainly to supervise whether the Lijia in the jurisdiction performed its obligations smoothly. The internal rotation system is implemented in Lijia. Other than that, the work of the lord is similar to that of the lord. It is responsible for promulgating state decrees, resolving internal disputes in Lijia, maintaining the order of "li", organizing labor obligations, dredging waterways, building dams, and resting cultivated land. , in order to ensure the production basis.

After the implementation of the one-whip law, not only residents converted their taxes into silver and handed them over to the magistrates, but from the perspective of the common people, magistrates had the responsibility to protect their own lives and various undertakings. Difficulties, the responsibility should be borne by the magistrate. In order to complete the term smoothly without major mistakes, county officials need to take the lead in preparing the production base themselves, that is, dredging waterways, building dams, and resting farmland and other activities that were originally in charge of the ri chief.

  As the importance of county-level administration in society increases, it becomes important to have people who advise the county administration and represent various interests in the region. Many local officials were unfamiliar with the local situation and needed people who were familiar with the situation. These people acted as intermediaries between the local society and the county administration. These local elites were called squires.

  The squires could not enforce the laws of the country, but they were the center of the patriarchal system. Through the patriarchal system and the patriarchal order, the squires exercised autonomy to a certain extent. The squires are often composed of a group of socially influential figures in the countryside, such as those who have not received the imperial examinations, fallen scholars, relatively literate small and medium-sized landlords, retired officials, and clan elders.

This phenomenon naturally brewed in the process of the disintegration of the household system and the beginning of social changes. The magistrates needed the gentry to manage the county, and the gentry also needed the magistrates to support certain actions of their own. Therefore, local society appeared to win over local officials. Case.

  The Qing Dynasty followed the one whip method of the Ming Dynasty and made some reforms, so the social phenomenon produced in the Ming Dynasty also continued to the Qing Dynasty.

  After Wanli's death, the One Whip Law and most of Zhang Juzheng's reforms were abolished for a time until they were reintroduced in the Qing Dynasty. The taxes collected are not all silver, but also 30% copper, but the problem of "huo consumption" is still serious, so that Emperor Yongzheng issued the order "huo consumption returns to the public".

Perhaps it was because he felt the difficulty of ascending the throne. From the beginning of Emperor Yongzheng, the will of the emperor of the Qing Dynasty was placed behind the upright plaque in the Qianqing Palace. Check with the emperor's secret collection of the will, and confirm the same before declaring the heir to the throne.

   At the same time, Yongzheng implemented the policy of "one gentry serving as one errand and one grain payment", which greatly filled the treasury and left a solid family background for Emperor Qianlong.

  The story of "Yongzheng's Legacy" was published in a Russian magazine in 1770. For some reason, it offended Queen Catherine and caused the magazine to stop publication. It is said that the relationship between the two emperors is not bad.

   In fact, on Mazu's birthday, the performance of "Peony Pavilion" in the Admiral's Mansion was once banned, as well as "Ming Feng Ji" by Wang Shizhen, "The Story of the West Chamber" by Hong Sheng, and "Peach Blossom Fan" by Kong Shangren. Emperor Qianlong believed that it was not a romantic affair between a talented man and a beautiful woman, but a plot full of flirting and flirting between men and women, which was enough to make underage audiences germinate bad thoughts and poison their hearts, so it should be banned.

   "Pfft!"

  Georgianna was drinking. She had been reading for so long, and she felt dry mouth. The Bonaparte plot made her almost spit out the wine in her mouth.

   As if he didn't see it, he continued to read.

But the royal family does not seem to be afraid of pollution. This kind of drama is still being performed, but of course the content has been purified. The emperor has put forward opinions on the content of the script, singing voice, acting skills, music cards, facial makeup, and props, and there has been a qualitative change. Recruiting security and being loyal to the country are the main points, and the Three Kingdoms drama comes down to the unification of the Three Kingdoms and the peace of the world.

   After the change, it would take ten days to complete the entire play from start to finish. Nick will not spend ten days watching such a "big play", he would rather read the ten volumes of "Three Kingdoms".

  Cao Xi sent someone to return Nick's picture album and book to him. Maybe he has checked them in detail and found no problems.

   Not to mention Cao Xi, Nick himself thought the way the note appeared in his room was weird.

Farmers are easily deceived by "magical powers" such as "sprinkling beans to become soldiers" and "invulnerability to swords and guns", and believe in various miraculous remedies, but the bureaucratic class will not believe in such "superstition". Zhi" and "Zibuyu is strange and chaotic".

  If it is indeed the will of God to stop the mining tax, the British landed in the New World at about the same time.

  Unfortunately, all of this can only stay on assumptions, because the emperor backed out and withdrew his edict.

   As written in the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms: It is easy to move forward, but difficult to move backwards.

   This sentence means that it is easy to do things according to public opinion, but it is difficult to act against public opinion.

In the 30th year of Wanli, when the people couldn't bear it any longer, they burned the Yunnan tax factory. If Emperor Wanli's "Widow" was sent to Yang Rong, he would be transferred away, and thousands of people would not have been tortured by torture. to death.

   Bonaparte was silent.

   "I don't think his last point is completely right." Georgiana said, "But I think 'the horse is hard to catch' is right."

   He looked at her.

   "Integrity, my lion, you can't be the same as Emperor Wanli."

   "You believe he made a promise to God that made him heal?" asked Bonaparte.

"Do you believe?"

   "If I believe this, then I will believe the Pope's wrath of St. Peter," he said grimly.

  Georgianna snatched the book from him, muttering, "Merlin's beard, I wish it was Pride and Prejudice."

"what is that?"

   "A 'simple' love story!" she complained. "Damn, why doesn't a Frenchman write about romance?"

   He smiled, kissed her on the forehead, then got up to fetch the wine, and filled her again.

   Accompanied by the sound of water flowing, Georgiana continued to read aloud, and not long after she noticed an orange light, it turned out that he had lit the candle.

   She glanced out the window, it was so dark, no wonder she had so much trouble reading a book just now.

   (end of this chapter)